M1 Tank Platoon MS-DOS

M1 Tank Platoon is an armor-simulator developed by MPS Labs in 1989 for Amiga, Atari ST and MS-DOS.

I wanted to cover M1 in 1990s Computer Game History, but it misses out by one month. Thus, I will highlight M1 here. This is the 12th computer game from the 1980s that I have reviewed.

M1 Tank Platoon is a fully real-time 3D tank-sim displayed in 256-color VGA at a resolution of 320x200. The graphics are 3D flat-shaded: terrain, buildings, armored vehicles and aircraft are represented by polygonal models. Explosion effects and smoke plumes are 3D as well, not sprite-based.

Due to CPU-speed and RAM-size restrictions in 1989, MPS Labs were not able to represent the heavily-wooded or undulating terrain of the European countryside. Thus, battles take place mostly in wide-open terrain dotted by hills and buildings.

M1 could run on as little as 4.77 MHz 8088 or 8086 microprocessors with 384 KB RAM in 4-color CGA. However, MPS Labs recommended running M1 on i80386 with 640 KB RAM in 256-color VGA, which resulted in smoother framerates and allowed for increased graphics detail.

In assuming the role of an undefined platoon commander, players direct the actions of four M1 Abrams battle tanks in single engagement or full campaign versus Soviet forces in Europe. [1]

There are two modes of play that update in real-time and are switched between on-the-fly: simulation mode and strategy mode. Action-sim mode is first- or third-person whereas strategy mode is top-down.

Thus, command and control is dual-layered. It was not common for 3D ground vehicle or flight sims of the era to feature dual-layered command and control.

Players directly control only one tank in action-sim mode by switching between commander, driver and gunner vantagepoints. However, players can issue commands to the other tanks in the platoon as well as call in artillery and air support (combined arms tactics). [2]

As in flight sims and other tank-sims of the era, action-sim mode is switchable between internal first-person views and external tracking views. External tracking views that could be rotated 360 degrees were novel in the late-80s.

As it pertains to combat, M1 naturally emphasizes the gunner's station. When assumed by the player, this is the vantagepoint that can most impact outcomes on battlefields. And it is also the most fun and well-designed aspect of the M1 simulation. At the gunner's station you can toggle the thermal viewer and switch between 120 mm main gun and the coaxial machine-gun. You can also switch between armor-piercing Sabot and HEAT (High Explosive Anti-Tank) ammunition.

M1 also emphasizes defensively positioning tanks behind the crestlines of hills: the turret's line of sight extends over the crestline while enemy targeting of the tank's hull is blocked by the crestline (the "hull-down" position).

On the other hand, M1 de-emphazies Soviet artillery in comparison to 2D wargames such as Steel Panthers. You are not going to spend hours trying to dig out enemy artillery in M1. Instead, you are contending with the speed, volume and manoeuvrability of Soviet armor.

Therefore, M1's gameplay is fast-paced and exhausting at times; its action-levels akin to the dogfighting flight sims that would become popular in 1990.

Top-down strategy mode is a zoomable mapboard that gives an overview of the battlefield in real-time. The mapboard shows various terrain features while highlighting mission objectives and friendly and hostile units (if visible). The mapboard is as well-designed as other aspects of M1; that is, it is pretty much perfect for an action-sim but not on the level of a proper turn-based wargame.

Another fun aspect of M1 is starting off with a fledgling tank platoon and promoting its crewmen through six levels of skill to become expert wrecking crews.

At the time of its release (1989), M1 Tank Platoon and Falcon (1987) were two of the most technically advanced and well-presented home computer games in the world. From its slicky-drawn HUD bitmaps and smoothy-updating 3D viewports to its sophisticated controls and combined-arms tactics, M1 was an unquestionably professional product on par with any flight sim of the late-80s.

M1 also came bundled with a manual that rivaled flight sims of the era in terms of page-number and depth of research.

If you click on the image below and mouse-wheel up and down, you can see the difference in aspect ratio between 320x200 and square-pixel 320x240 resolutions. Thus, some of M1's 2D graphics were drawn for 16:10 aspect ratio and others for 4:3. And the 3D geometry looks proportional in 4:3, but not the interior bitmaps (e.g., the dials are vertically stretched in 4:3). This technical quirk could have been solved by non-standard VGA coding routines.

If M1 came out only a few years later, it could have taken advantage of square-pixel SVGA 640x480, i80486 CPUs and much more RAM.

As with many computer games of the late-80s, M1's gameplay is stronger than many 90s computer games; and its mechanics-complexity is on par with similar computer games that came out one decade later.

In the end and in retrospect, it was really just hardware technology that let M1 down. Or rather, M1 came out too early; it was ahead of its time.

If only MPS Labs could have seen the future... what was coming just around the corner from Intel, IBM and Microsoft.

That said, if M1 was a part of 90s computer game history I would rank it alongside the big four. That's how good I consider it to be, even in its late-80s state.

As an aside, M1 came out before the Persian Gulf War brought the M1 Abrams to mainstream attention (1991).

Note that M1 was not the first 3D simulator to feature realistic multi-unit command and control: that was Carrier Command (1988).

The Late-80s was Big on Tank Sims

TANK: The M1 Abrams Tank Simulation (Sphere Inc., 1989) was the other highly advanced tank simulator of 1989. In fact, TANK has the most advanced 3D engine out of the lot.

Abrams Battle Tank (Dynamix, 1988) was popular in the late-80s as well. However, ABT is more of an arcade-sim than M1. Still, ABT is quite a lot of fun even though it isn't as realistic as M1. If you just want to jump in and get blasting, this is the tank-sim for you.

Steel Thunder: American Battle Tank Simulation (Loughry, Accolade, 1988) is another good tank-sim from the late-80s, but its viewport is exceedingly small and its graphics are sprite-scaled rather than 3D flat-shaded.

Sherman M4 (Loriciel, 1989) employed flat-shaded geometry with 2D backgrounds:

M1 Tank Platoon Controls

Controls are a combo of keyboard and joystick or keyboard-only. The Amiga version supports kb/m and joystick.

M1 features thorough and sophisticated controls that need to be memorized.

Viewpoint Controls

TC Unbuttoned: F1
TC Buttoned: F2
Gunner: F3
Driver: F4
Outside Tank: F9
Outside Any: F10

OP & Platoon Leader Controls

OP to Next Tank: Shift F9
LDR to OP Tank: Shift F10

Standard Vehicle Controls

Sabot (AP) Ammo: 1
HEAT Ammo: 2
Main/Coax: 3
Computer(Normal)/Battlesight: 4
Input Battlesight Range: 5
Manual Range Input Shift: 0-9
Magnify Vision: 7
Night Vision: 8
Turn to This Facing: 9
Smoke Generator On: =
Smoke Generator Off: -
Smoke Grenade Salvo: Backspace

TC Controls

View / Aim Up: Down Cursor
View / Aim Down: Up Cursor
View / Aim Left: Left Cursor
View / Aim Right: Right Cursor
Fire Machine-gun: Return

Gunner Controls

Elevate Gun and Coax: Down Cursor
Depress Gun and Coax: Up Cursor
Rotate Turret Left: Left Cursor
Rotate Turret Right: Right Cursor
Fire Laser Rangefinder: Space bar
Fire Gun or Coax: Return

Driver Controls

Decelerate / Move Back: Down Cursor
Accelerate / Move Ahead: Up Cursor
Turn Left: Left Cursor
Turn Right: Right Cursor
Brake: Return

Vehicle Orders

Advance Fast: a
Advance Slow: s
Halt: h
Backup: b
Left Turn: 1
Right Turn: r
Move to: *
Turn to: **
Fire at Will: f
Cease Fire: c
Engage to Front: e
Engage to Rear: d
Engage to Left: <,
Engage to Right: >.
Smoke Generator On: +=
Smoke Generator Off: -_

Platoon Orders

Advance Fast: a
Advance Slow: s
Halt: h
Backup: b
Left Turn: 1
Right Turn: r
Move to: *
Turn to: **
Fire at Will: f
Cease Fire: c
Form Wedge Shift: W
Form Vee Shift: V
Form In-Line Shift: I
Form Column Shift: C
Form Echelon Left Shift: L
Form Echelon Right Shift: R
Smoke Generator On: +=
Smoke Generator Off: -_

H.Q Radio Net

A-10A Jet: j (Mavericks & 30mm GAU)
AH-64A Helicopter: a (Hellfires & 30mm Chain-gun)
OH-58D Helicopter: 0 (Machine-gun)
107mm Mortar Bombs: b (high explosive barrage)
107mm Smoke Bombs: s (smoke screen barrage)
155mm HE Shells: h (high explosive barrage)
155mm WP Shells: w (smoke screen barrage)
MRLS 227mm Rockets: r (large high explosive barrage)

Simulation Controls

Outside Tank: F9
Outside Any: F10
Map Objectives On/Off: Alt m
Pause Game: Alt p
Accelerated Time: Alt a
Boss (Hide Game) Alt b
Quit Game: Alt q (exit to DOS)
Adjust Vehicle Graphics Detail: Alt d
Adjust Volume: Alt v
Reset Joystick: Alt j
Adjust Battle Speed: Insert

Mapboard Controls

Mapboard: F5
Your Tank: F6
Next Platoon: F7
Next Vehicle: F8

[1]

M1 Tank Platoon Single Engagements

Blitzkrieg
Meeting Engagement
Hasty Attack
Assault
Defend Position
Rearguard Action

M1 Tank Platoon Campaign

The M1 Tank Platoon campaign starts off with Outfitting and Briefing screens.

Outfitting allows players to review and transfer crewmen as well as set tank ammo loudout (e.g., no. of HEAT / Sabot rounds).

(The next two screencaps were taken in the Amiga version).

Presented on the mapboard, Briefing consists of mission orders (primary and other objectives), force attachments, enemy unit identification, enemy equipment estimate, intelligence summary and weather report.

[2]

Artillery & Air Support

M113 Infantry Track
M2 Bradley
M3 Cavalry Fighting Vehicles
M901 Missile Carriers
M163 Air Defense
Artillery Support (Bombardment and Smokescreens)
Air Support (Apache Gunship and A-10 Warthog)

Soviet Units

T-80 Tank Platoon
BMP & BTR Motor Rifle Platoon
BRDM-3 Missile Carrier
BRDM-2 & BRM Recon Vehicle
Forward Observer (FO) and Forward Air Controller (FAC)

Unit Types

Main Battle Tanks: Ml, M60, T-80, T-72, T-64, T-62, T-55
Helicopters: AH-64A, OH-58D, Mi-24 HIND
Attack Jets: American A-10A, "Thunderbolt II", Pact Su-25 "Frogfoot"
AFVs: IFV, APC, Armored Car
Unarmored Vehicles: Jeep, Truck
Dismounted Infantry

M1 Tank Platoon Formations

It is important to employ the correct platoon formations for the likes of cover and concentrated fire. Bunching up the platoon is the height of foolishness in M1.

Wedge
Vee
In-line
Column
Eschelon Left/Right

cf. MechWarrior 1 1989.

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A part of: History of 1990s Computer Games.

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